Excerpt

My arm vibrated with power! The power was so great as it went through my arm toward the group that was praying, I wondered, why doesn’t the force of this power knock them all down? (This was the first power I’d experienced just minutes after the manifestation of my “infilling.”)

My baptism in the Holy Spirit was unique, not just the baptism itself, but the events that led up to it. God wanted to demonstrate His power (through me) to the new church He’d just put into place. He chose the first night of the meeting on The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual Gifts to demonstrate my infilling. Also, He wanted me to write about it and share it with you—the reader and seeker.

(He wants to touch you through this book so you will be edified. He’s still trying to get His Church, i.e., those who have not accepted the spiritual baptism, to accept His Gift today.)

The young (Spirit-filled) Baptist preacher led the new, non-denominational, full-gospel church: the remnant of several denominations God was molding into oneness for the new work He wanted done in Huntington. We had recently trained in the spiritual gifts. It was important that others be edified so they could “see” that the Holy Spirit was real and for us today, because no one else in this newly formed church had, as yet, experienced the spiritual baptism—(except the pastor and his wife.)

I can tell you only how He worked with me, and why (as He revealed His reasons to me three weeks later). I feel others can receive the Holy Spirit just as I did, in any number of other scenarios. God can (and will) do it any way He chooses, but it will always be in a way that will glorify Him.

I would also caution you, don’t get frustrated, or emotional, to the point you stop the work the Holy Spirit is trying to do in you. I’ve seen this happen, and it’s because a person will allow fear to override what knowledge they have. Some were not able to read, or hear about the spiritual baptism beforehand, to know what to expect “during” the infilling (it’s why I share the details of my own infilling in this book).

Seek God’s knowledge. Read His Word. Listen to Spirit-filled teachers. Believe. Read about others’ experiences. Listen to the testimonies of those who have received the infilling. And above all, don’t expect your infilling to be a carbon copy of someone else’s.

The three-night workshop on the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Spiritual Gifts, and their Workings in the Church,” had been planned for months. A very knowledgeable evangelist and teacher of the Holy Spirit, from Eagle’s Nest Retreat in Texas, was to hold the meeting.

I knew nothing about the “Holy Spirit.” I began to read everything I could find about this spiritual baptism as soon as I had heard about the workshop. I fasted and prayed, and … waited. (I had a problem with this process of “waiting” at the time, because I felt I should have received Him without waiting—contrary to the Word!)

As the date of the meeting approached, I felt I knew as much about the Holy Spirit as one could know who had not yet received the baptism. I wanted Him so much I could hardly stand it until the meeting got under way. I knew I was going to be the first one in line to receive Him! I didn’t just want to speak in tongues, by this time; I wanted all of Him I could get! I also wanted every gift of the Spirit—in double portions!

Then, sixteen days before the meeting, a strange thing happened to me. I was awakened several times during the night and I heard a “voice” speaking a “strange language.”

Someone is “speaking in tongues,” I thought.

What a strange feeling! I felt it was I speaking. (You know how you feel when you wake yourself from sleep when you’ve been either snoring or talking in your sleep?) But how could that be? I had never spoken in tongues before. While pondering that, I went back to sleep. Again, I was awakened. This time I sensed “something.” He woke me three more times during the night, and I knew that He (God) had “instilled something in me that I could draw upon when I needed it.” I was sure of it!

The next day, I spoke to a Spirit-filled friend of mine about my experience. She told me, “I was ‘praying in the Spirit’ last night.” (Like, what did that have to do with what I had heard?) But I still wasn’t sure. Maybe I had dreamed that I had heard her? When it was again confirmed in my spirit that it had been my voice I’d heard speaking in tongues, I said nothing about it. I couldn’t exhibit the gift of tongues when I tried, so, I figured I was wrong—confirmation or no: “O ye of little faith.”

I was jumping-up-and-down excited as I awaited the start of the two-day workshop. I knew the magnitude of what I sought the first night of the meeting. I knew the Gift of the Holy Spirit was not to be taken lightly. It was more than speaking in tongues! It encompassed the whole of the Person of the “Spirit of Jesus.”

The evangelist taught about the “spiritual gifts.” He taught knowledge of who He really is, and of the gifts He gives, all of which built our faith to receive. (As with salvation, if you don’t have the faith teaching Word before the ministry starts; it may be much too hard to have the faith to believe to receive.)

When the evangelist asked, “Does anyone want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? My hand shot up like a spring that had just been released.